【TelecommutingFormostpeople，ausualworkdaymeanswakingup，eatingbreakfast，drivingtotheoffice，workingforabout8hoursandthendrivingbackhome．Butnotallworkershavethisexperience．Manypeopleworkfromtheirhomes．Thiskind】

　　Telecommuting

　　For most people，a usual workday means wakingup，eating breakfast，driving to the office，workingfor about 8hours and then driving back home．Butnot all workers have this experience．Many peoplework from thei rhomes．This kind of work is calledtelecommuting or telework．A person whotelecomutes is called a telecommuter．

　　People have worked in their homes for thousands of years．But the modern ideaof telecommuting started in the early 1970s．Improvements in technology，especiallynetworking technology，helped support the development of telework．Ascommunication technology became cheaper and more powerful，telecommuting becamemore of a choice for workers．

　　Both companies and individuals（个人）can benefit from telework．One benefitfor companies is that it can save money．It can also help improve morale． This isbecause workers who have choices about how they work are often happier．If workersare happier，they are likely to do better jobs．This is good for the company．As forindividuals，they can save money by cutting down their transportation costs．Theyalso save time because they do not have to go to the office every day．Depending onhow often they work from home，telecommuters can save between 15and 25workdaysevery year．

　　Even though there are many benefits to telework，there are also somedisadvantages．Managers are worried about losing control of the workers．If the workeris not in the office，managers don't know what they are doing．Telework can also bebad for a person's working life．Managers are more likely to give a promotion（升职）

　　to workers that they see every day，so telecommuters have less chance of gettingpromoted than regular workers．As telecommuters often work alone，another badeffect of telecommuting is separation from other people．

　　Telecommuting has a place in the society today．Helped by more powerfutechnologies，teleworkers of the future will be able to communicate in new andimproved ways．This will make telework better and